Region gets Easter surprise

Assembly approves extra school building funds

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Counties were already set to receive a record $400 million in the fiscal 2008 budget that Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) promised during last fall’s campaign, but the two legislative chambers did not agree on how to allocate the funds until the General Assembly’s final days.

The final budget agreement forged over the weekend gives significant boosts to all three Southern Maryland jurisdictions, particularly Calvert County, whose initial $5.1 million figure more than doubled to $12.2 million. It also represents a more than 400 percent increase from the current fiscal year’s $2.7 million allocation for school construction.

‘‘I think there’s a lot of political might in Annapolis that looks to take care of Calvert,” said Del. Sue Kullen (D-Calvert), a reference to powerful Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert, Prince George’s).

The funding increase will allow the county to complete construction on Barstow Elementary School, one of its top priorities. Miller said he told budget negotiators that Calvert needed more money and they complied with the request.

State aid to Charles and St. Mary’s counties was set at $13.1 million and $9.8 million, respectively. Both amounts represent substantial hikes from what each received for school construction in the current fiscal year and the original House of Delegates budget plan.

O’Malley’s record pledge to school construction in his first year in office represents nearly half of the state’s $810 million capital spending plan. It’s part of an effort to build goodwill with lawmakers and constituents before he’ll have to craft a potentially unpopular solution to the state’s $1.5 billion structural deficit, which is likely to include a combination of tax increases, cuts to programs and the legalization of slot machines.

School construction funding in future years is likely to be far smaller, though O’Malley has committed to earmark at least $250 million per year for the rest of his term.

But with a logjam of projects stuck in the school construction queue, the one-time $400 million infusion won’t solve the long-term fiscal problem, said Bill Phalen, Calvert County Board of Education vice president.

‘‘It helps and it’s a step in the right direction, but we’ve got to do that for quite a number of years statewide to catch up,” said Phalen, who is also president of the Maryland Association of Boards of Education.

Overcrowded schools throughout Southern Maryland have forced officials to lease or purchase relocatable classrooms to accommodate rapid growth until more construction dollars become available.

Word of the additional money delighted school officials, who said it will help accelerate a number of construction and renovation initiatives.

Charles County is aiming to open a new school every year through 2025 to keep pace with the population boom, while St. Mary’s County is preparing to build its first new school in more than two decades.

Calvert’s other top priority is the construction of a new Calvert Middle School.

The extra jolt of money will keep Calvert’s construction timeline on target. Without it, the Barstow project likely would have been delayed, said Phalen.

‘‘It really would have put us in a very big bind.”

While Charles County received a more modest increase, every dollar helps to combat overcrowding, said Del. Murray D. Levy (D-Charles).

‘‘We have a lot of needs,” he said. ‘‘We’re a growing county with crowded schools and we need to fix it.”

Charles has forward-funded several school construction projects in recent years, rather than wait for incremental state aid.

School officials there assert that they have the largest number of mobile classrooms per capita in the state.

E-mail Alan Brody at abrody@somdnews.com.